Don’t worry. I’m not going to gossip about this, say something witty, or even try to attempt to understand what she or her loved ones are going through right now. Instead, I’m just going to say thank you to Catherine Zeta Jones for doing the one thing so many celebrities have been unable to do: be honest.

Yes, she actually came out  and said it. The truth. The real reasons she needs help. She didn’t try to claim exhaustion or dehydration or dizziness. She didn’t try to claim anything at all. There was no PR plan. She didn’t try to cover it up or divert attention away from her issues or be anything less than completely open about the struggle she’s facing. She told the truth about exactly what she was going through, and the reasons why she was going through it.

Back in February Charlie Sheen claimed he was hospitalized for a stomach ulcer. Lindsay Lohan has often claimed she was heading off to rehab because of “exhaustion,” and so has Collin Farrell and Dave Chappelle. In the past, even Eminem has used a vague “medical issues” and left it at that. Celebs don’t tell the truth. They don’t give us the real reasons behind these hospitalizations and rehab stays. Why are they really getting help? Why do they really need help? For some we can guess the answers, and we’d probably guess right, but the possibilities can often seem so much worse than the realities. The possibilities let gossip magazines run stories with little truth to them, leave people without answers, and force speculation.

Hopefully by being up front about her issues Catherine Zeta Jones can avoid some of that, while also reminding people that mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. Because what she did takes courage. The media is not always nice to celebrities, even when they’re facing serious illnesses. She took a chance when she told the truth. She was straightforward and honest about her health and about the help she needed, and for that I thank her.

Every day we’re bombarded with a million different messages about what we are supposed to look like. And tell you what, our not-so-scientific-yet-totally-accurate visual research proves that 99% of girls out there don’t fit the mold. So instead of telling you how to wear your hair, or how much weight to lose, or which one of Heidi Montag’s many surgeries to get (because, really, look where that got her), we’re going to celebrate these so-called beauty flaws with beautiful women every single week.

Last week we celebrated the natural nose. Today, let’s talk about curves.

It’s no secret that Hollywood likes their actresses to look anorexic-chic. But that doesn’t mean that all the women in Hollywood are conforming to that reasonable ridiculous standard. This week we’re putting on a spotlight on the curvy and voluptuous celebrities who haven’t let their bigger bodies stop them from having even bigger careers.

]]> http://collegecandy.com/2010/06/03/celebrating-celebrity-flaws-curvy-girls/feed/ 62 ccandystaff CC-curvy eva-mendes-met-ball-2010-02 elizabeth-hurley-busts-out-gq-01 mo-nique-2010-oscars-01 nikki-blonsky-sag-awards-2008-11 queen-latifah-2010-oscars-02 katherine-heigl-canary-cute-02 catherine-zeta-jones-a-little-night-music-curtain-call-01 penelope-cruz-javier-bardem-cannes-12 beyonce-perf-vmas-03 preciouspop scarlett-johansson-drama-desk-awards-01 jlove-1253886301 jloodysuit456 1269290069504 1264698753985 kate-winslet-jeff-bridges-2010-golden-globe-awards-red-carpet-01 mariah-carey-glitters-new-years-02 jessica-simpson-runs-into-tony-romo-01 http://collegecandy.com/2010/03/16/bad-advice-women-get-know-your-fashion-sex/ http://collegecandy.com/2010/03/16/bad-advice-women-get-know-your-fashion-sex/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:00:13 +0000 Hillary - Columbia http://collegecandy.com/?p=56520 this post, which links to a weird article in Britain’s Sunday Times called “What is your fashion sex?” Intrigued, I clicked on the link and was immediately transported to a strange world where phrases like “aggro frog move” and “bodycon dresses” apparently mean something.]]> As I was browsing Jezebel yesterday, I came across this post, which links to a weird article in Britain’s Sunday Times called “What is your fashion sex?” Intrigued, I clicked on the link and was immediately transported to a strange world where phrases like “aggro frog move” and “bodycon dresses” apparently mean something.

But the article’s vocabulary isn’t the only baffling thing about it. In the piece, author Shane Watson proposes that all women have a “fashion sex,” a sort of gendered style that comes naturally to them.

Confused? So was I. Watson tries to explain herself by pinpointing the “fashion sexes” of some celebrities: “Anyone can see that Scarlett Johansson is a Girl, who should stick to asset-flaunting bodycon dresses” (whatever those are), she writes, while Kristen Stewart is “a tomboy through and through” whose outfits should never clash with her “natural urge to look a bit rough, undone, cool and … boyish.” Madonna is another celeb who Watson classifies as boyish: her “DNA is probably 12% bloke — in a good way. It’s the reason she looks like a man in drag in a pussy-bow blouse, but fabulously hot in a pair of chaps,” Watson writes.

I guess what this really means is that, according to Watson, women are innately either traditionally feminine, a little more hard-edged (read: manly), or androgynous. These traits are “non-negotiable,” she says, meaning that an inherently girly girl should never wear “the leather trousers, jacket and peaked-cap look” that serves Catherine Zeta-Jones so ill in the picture that accompanies the article.

Of course, the thing is that in that picture, Zeta-Jones doesn’t look uncomfortable or inappropriate. She’s Catherine-frickin’-Zeta-Jones—even if she hasn’t made a good movie since winning a Best Supporting Actress for Chicago, one thing she does have going for her is that she’s still one of the most beautiful women on the planet (and a very lucrative deal with T-Mobile). I think she would probably look smoking even if she was wearing a burlap sack and one of those big, furry Russian hats.

The notion of fashion sex is totally ludicrous; having short hair or, in Stewart’s case, a curiously surly demeanor (does that girl just not know how to smile?) doesn’t make a woman un-feminine—look at a pixie-haired Halle Berry in that famous Oscars dress, for just one example of why Watson is completely wrong. Hell, even K-Stew looked pretty, classy and, dare I say, comfortably girly at last week’s Oscars. So-called “boyish” types can look great wearing frilly dresses, and so-called “girly” types can look amazing in jeans and distressed Chucks.

Every girl should wear whatever she wants without fear that she’s somehow going against “type,” whatever that means. There’s no sense in pigeonholing yourself to just one kind of look, especially if you’re only doing it because some crazy British lady thinks you should.

Right before we left work, we did some last minute web surfing (and Facebook stalking, but don’t tell anyone!), and came across some of the weirdest pictures we have seen in a looonnggg time.

Apparently, bad bronzer can happen to anyone.

For instance? Gwyneth Paltrow uses snake venom skin cream to keep wrinkles away. Creepy! She must have some sssseriously ssssoft ssssskin with that $185 price tag.

Desperate housewife Teri Hatcher bathes in wine. Now this I can understand, seeing as maybe it seeps into her pores and she could potentially get a little tipsy. I’m all about the tipsy!

On the other hand, if she’s using red wine, someone that may accidentally walk in could think they just stumbled upon a seriously gory celebrity crime scene. What a waste of booze though, really. Think of all your sober fans Teri, so greedy!

Halle Berry‘s a huge fan of coffee, not for her daily caffiene fix, but rather for her thighs. Catherine Zeta-Jones crushes strawberries, a supposed natural teeth whitener, into her toothpaste. Breakfast while brushing? I suppose it could work.

Covergirl Christie Brinkley has cats, and not just as furry companions. Their kitty litter goes straight into her exfoliator. In fear of tabbies clawing at my face, I’d avoid this little trick. Brave woman, that Brinkley.

It’s obvious the celebs go a little gaga over the latest beauty secret or A-list trick, but why can’t we all just dab on a little Clearasil and call it a day? It’s freaky what pretty people do to stay pretty. So, the next time you have a stubborn zit on your forehead just think, at least it gives you character (and at least cats don’t wanna poo on your face).

Is snake venom a miracle cure?